Now I will agree that "forced" was a bit powerful for a choice of word.
So as for titles being cheaper in retail than they are in the eShop I am speaking directly in the US. You can get New Super Mario Bros 2 on the eShop for $39.99 while I can find it locally for a bit lower and still get a copy that my entire family can share. For that same cost I can get the digital release, and tough on sharing. There are 3 3DS's in my house so far (4 but one was stolen) so games get passed around quite regularly. Because of the physical copy not only do we have individual game saves, but we can compete against eachothers street pass Coin Rush scores as well.
The games they are wanting us to buy like Crosswords Plus and Art Academy are already matching their price locally but do not allow us to get the donkey kong in any way, shape, or form. I still would rather, if the prices are the same, get the physical copy especially if I can drop it even lower via either sales or other promotions that retail stores can run much more often. Even Sony is at least trying harder by offering a 10% discount on their digital releases vs the store bought. Value is based on the user, but this just doesn't seem to have value to me other than having me pay for a game 3 times for us all to use it.
Now as for Zelda, I understand that it was for the 25th Anniversary of the Zelda franchise, but when you give away a multiplayer centered game to early adopters for free to help entice more players, what is the point if your friends are not getting 3DS systems or waited for an XL if there is no way to play with them on this great game? We have it on 2 of our 3 3DS systems, and one DSi, but can't get it on the latest system or the one we are getting to replace the stolen one with. So in a home where we regularly break out the GBA's and play Four Swords or FF: Crystal Chronicles on the TV, we can't enjoy that same game much easier on our new systems simply because Nintendo has decided to ignore it. How much fun is it when we play one person has to sit out even though the necessary hardware is in their hands and this digital game is being forced to be unattainable when I make it my business to track down "rare" physical games.